CHAPTER SIXTY

Jason grinned as he stepped into the familiar surroundings of the Good Game Shoppe.

By now, it felt like he'd gone right back to his high school days. As soon as he finished training with the BAG Guild, he'd hurry there as soon as possible.

There was only one big difference.

The store was almost entirely empty right now.

This time, Jason was the first person at the shop rather than one of the last.

Back in high school, Jason's parents had only let him head over to the Good Game Shoppe once they'd verified that he'd finished all of his homework and studying. They used to quiz him every day before letting him go.

Now, he would head over as soon as he finished his usual session with the BAG Guild.

With the exception of Danny, all of the BAG Guild's members were in college.

As a result, they were usually free to play in the afternoons. Jason usually started walking to the Good Game Shoppe around noon.

Typically, Jacob and his father were the only people in the store when he showed up.

He would pop open a computer and do private drills until the rest of the regulars showed up.

Jacob stepped over with a huge smile on his face.

"Yo! Jason! Good to see you, man."

He gestured jokingly at the open shop.

"Thanks for keeping me company!"

Jason laughed.

"Thanks for having me."

Jason meant it.

He was incredibly lucky that he had access to such a great community.

Between the kind members of the BAG Guild and the welcoming regulars at the Good Game Shoppe, Jason felt like his long-rusted social skills were finally starting to return.

"What are you up to today?"

Jason pointed at the warm-up area.

"Same as usual. I just wanted to get more practice. I really appreciate you guys having these private computers. There's been a lot of scouting going on at the Tournament of Assassins."

Jacob nodded sagely.

"Yeah. I've seen some of the reporting. Tons of battles are happening in open space. People are just accepting the consequences."

Jacob's words briefly reminded Jason of his own surprising space battle. The other man was probably right - it was some sort of scouting expedition. Steven had said the same thing.

Jacob let out a long breath and shook his head in appreciation.

"It's crazy! You guys are going all-out."

Jacob flickered through his computer for a bit, then turned it around to show Jason a stream.

"Did you see that The Hive is competing too? Of course, they are so confident that they're streaming the whole thing."

Jason made a face.

"I hoped they wouldn't, but I should have known."

The server's top guild participated in every mapping competition.

He knew he and Danny would have to tussle with them eventually. He just hoped they wouldn't be in the same group for the next round.

Unlike other guilds, which made up for a lack of talent with sheer numbers, the Hive consisted solely of elite experts. Jason didn't know if the guild's members were as skilled as Vile, but he couldn't discount the possibility.

The skilled pilot shrugged.

Worrying about his future opponents wouldn't do anything. After the next round, he would have a full two weeks to prepare. For now, he just had to focus on the task ahead of him.

"There's not much I can do about them. I'll just have to keep working on my drills. Hopefully I can hit them with something they haven't seen before."

Once again, Jacob shook his head in disbelief.

"Man, it's crazy how hard you've been working. I took a look at the stats the other day - I'm pretty sure you spent more time than anyone else in the Sandbox the last three days. I thought the guys flying around the Overdrive server scouting people were pretty crazy, but..."

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Jacob pumped his fist.

"Man, you're working harder than any of those guys. Keep it up, man. We're all rooting for you!"

He pointed at the TV screen on the other side of the room.

"We were going to do a watch party!"

Jason grinned and nodded.

The other man's support was totally humbling.

"Thank you, thank you."

Jason went straight to the warm-up area before logging into the Overdrive server to start practicing again. As always, he prioritized individual drills rather than free play battles. He'd have plenty of time for battles once the Good Game Shoppe's members arrived.

The dedicated and focused training accelerated his familiarity with the Vampire Brawler and the watchdog-modified Red Minerva.

Right now, Jason was still focused on hand-to-hand combat. His battle against Vile had exposed a significant hole in his game, and Jason wanted to close up that weakness as soon as possible.

For now, he was particularly focused on wrestling.

The last few days, he'd spent his time in the store carefully replicating the techniques Vinnie taught him on the server. He'd already noticed the benefits during his battles on the Palace of Emotions.

In Jason's opinion, his moves had been crude and imperfect. Vinnie's attacks had been far smoother than his.

However, Jason's awkward tackles had still worked. He knew those moves would only become even more effective with practice.

Jason started off with the Vampire Brawler.

Out of the two Mechs, the Vampire Brawler had greater height and weight. As a result, it was able to land straight-on takedowns.

Drilling with the Vampire Brawler was simple, and it served as an excellent overall practice tool to understand the fundamentals of wrestling attacks.

Rather than logging into the server, he used one of the Good Game Shoppe's Premium Mode Apps. The Sandbox essentially served as an offline practice tool similar to the online server's Forever Fortress. Players could freely adjust the terrain and summon various practice dummies.

Jason slowly and steadily worked through Vinnie's list of moves as he knocked down the Forever Fortress's practice dummy Mechs over and over again.

For now, Jason restricted himself to the very fundamentals.

He was primarily focused on his wrestling shot.

For most Overdrive fans, a shot was just an attack fired from a rifle or a bow.

For a wrestling coach like Vinnie, a shot was the initial move wrestlers used to duck under their opponent's guard. After a successful shot, they could grab onto their opponent's legs or lower body to bring them to the floor.

Using the Vampire Brawler, Jason carefully tested his takedowns against several different targets, ranging from squat Mechs like the Guardian X to tall and slender machines like the Green Envy.

It was important to judge his opponent's weight and center of gravity to determine the best possible attacking angle.

Jason also included a variety of non-human machines.

Tackling two-legged Mechs like the Red Minerva was relatively easy. The additional tail made things a little tricky, but it was just a straightforward transition from conventional humanoid Mechs.

Knocking over four-legged machines was much more difficult.

He couldn't quite figure it out on his own. Of course, attacking stable machines like tanks was even more challenging.

Jason had seen Vinnie knock over those enemies, but Jason lacked the fundamental understanding of wrestling needed to figure it out for himself.

He'd play around with a couple of different ideas, but his best bet was asking Vinnie later that night.

After going through a variety of practice dummies, Jason shifted to attacking on different terrain.

In addition to using conventional wrestling moves, he also worked on his approach. There were countless different stages in Overdrive, and the simple act of running changed dramatically in every situation.

During his time as a One Star Boss, Jason had an enormous advantage due to his familiarity with the stage. Now, he knew he'd have to battle in countless different surroundings, and he wanted to make sure to maintain top performance.

It would be a long and arduous process, but Jason hoped to one day feel as familiar on any stage as he did on the volcanic Towering Crag.

After he finished his drills with the Vampire Brawler, Jason briefly walked over to the mall a couple of blocks down to grab a bite to eat at the food court.

When he returned, he moved on to his main partner.

Unlike the Vampire Brawler, the Red Minerva was extremely light.

As a result, it was much more challenging to replicate Vinnie's conventional wrestling moves.

Jason had plans to experiment with his main partner's size and strength, but he wanted to replicate Vinnie's moves on any machine. In conventional wrestling, wrestlers were separated by weight class. It was simply too difficult for a welterweight to bring down a heavyweight.

Aside from the restrictions on Giga Mechs, Jason did not have that advantage. As a result, he needed to figure out how to bring down his opponents despite a lighter machine.

Fortunately, Jason didn't need to ask Vinnie for any advice. He thought for a moment, then dove deep beneath the ground.

Moments later...

CLANG!

Jacob, who'd been peeking from over Jason's shoulder, let out a surprised shout as Jason brought down his enormous enemy.

Earlier, Jason had practiced takedowns on the Red Minerva using the Vampire Brawler.

Now, the situation was reversed.

Watching the cave dragon knock down a bulky Mech with her bare hands was a truly impressive sight.

"Dang! How did you do that?"

Jason was inside the virtual reality of Overdrive. However, he could still hear the other man behind him.

He pointed at his screen with his finger.

"Well, Vinnie was telling me about how important it is to shoot beneath an enemy's guard. However, I'm really comfortable attacking underground with the Red Minerva. This combo lets me shoot from a really unexpected angle. Once I grab my enemy's legs, I can topple them over."

Jason loaded in a new practice dummy and tried again.

Over time, he realized that this underground attack could even work on the Mechs he'd been struggling with earlier. Four legs and high-traction treads couldn't stand against a perfect underground assault.

Jason didn't know much about wrestling yet, but he knew a lot about the Red Minerva. He could put together his disparate knowledge to piece together a workable solution.

Of course, the Red Minerva's natural proportions still didn't fit with wrestling.

Jason pulled up an image of the Red Minerva on his computer and frowned.

Hmmm....

Thus far, Jason had not maximized the Credit cap on the Red Minerva.

The Blazing Avarice system allowed him to reduce his costs dramatically. His current equipment cost a significant amount of credits, but there were still 15,000 left for customization.

Jason could further cut costs by adjusting the items hidden in his wristband.

The Ghostfire Dagger and Mindmeld Garotte were good for subtle assassination, but what about a more obvious playstyle?

After all, Mech customizations weren't restricted to weapons.

They also included armor and other weaponry...

Jason spent some more time drilling, and then he moved to the Workshop.

The veteran pilot carefully considered his options, then smiled. He wasn't accustomed to this deeper level of crafting.

However, that was the practice at the Good Game Shoppe was for. If all went well, Jason would develop a new armor system that implemented everything he'd learned while training on the Vampire Brawler.